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Hopper and Wilson Fetch a Star

By Maria van Lieshout

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket

Never let it fade away.

 

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket

Save it for a rainy day.

The lyrics to this 1957 song, sung by the inimitable Perry Como, slipped into my head as I read the picture book, “Hopper and Wilson Fetch a Star.” What’s the difference between fetching and catching, anyway? They both seem to involve a task that is taken up with a fair amount of some sort of energy and even adventure in the air.

And it IS a second adventure for the two fast friends of Maria van Lieshouts’ “Hopper and Wilson.”

Hopper, a stitched up the front, pale blue cuddly elephant and his best friend, a small yellow mouse named Wilson are in search of a star. So odd that I am writing this blog on the Christian feast of the Epiphany when magi from from the east sought a star too! I just love synchronicity, when events tumble together in life that just seem to align all by themselves!

I guess I just feel a certain connection with this simple picture book and these two fast friends on a mission aboard the slimmest of neatly folded paper airplanes to find the PERFECT star; a star all their own. What is it about the kid gene in Hopper and Wilson that can conceive and dream such plans, as it urges them on, and with sometimes needed courage, sees it through to its completion? When did we, as adults, lose the kid gene? Guess that’a a blog for another day.

The dock from which they first gaze out at the starry night sky and concoct the plan looks like our dock. The only thing missing is the lonely cactus in a pot that sits beside the duo. Zooming into space aboard their paper ship, these two are VERY picky about their choice in stars. Brightness, pointiness,and sparkliness are all non negotiables that factor into the ONE!

Wouldn’t you know their search takes one of them, solo, to the dark side of the moon! With one phrase of “He leapt into the darkness,” Ms van Lieshouts‘ picture book opens the door to all children’s longing for, and sometimes fear of, the new, the changeable, and the unfamiliar. Wilson feels lost and alone on the dark side of the moon.

But Ms. van Lieshouts‘ reasoning is very true in her deceptively simple tale. Nature IS healing and the more we align ourselves with it, it can, like it did with Wilson, light the way for the oneness we seek with each other and the world we live in.

I must remember to, as Wilson does, say a “Thank you” to all the twinkling stars and the firmament that lies below it.

Best friends Wilson and Hopper seem to get it, and so will your young readers, in this amazing picture book of seeking, losing and finding ourselves in nature and each other!

Maybe this book will make you and your kids feel like singing along with Perry to “Catch a Falling Star.” Great song to sing along to with Hopper and Wilson!

youtube.com/watch?v=5t_PDU5RmBw

Hey Miffy you’re so fine. You’re so fine you blow my mind — hey Miffy! Or Nijntje, as this children’s book character by illustrator author Dick Bruna is known in Holland and much of Europe. She’s a girl who wears lightly the distinction of being, at least according to the London Telegraph the most popular rabbit in the world. There’s not a... Read More

The post Minimally drawn Miffy appeared first on How To Be A Children's Book Illustrator.

Reading level: Ages 1-4

Add this book to your collection: Backseat A-B-See

Video courtesy of ChronicleBooks: Vroom! Vroom! From the backseat, what do you see? Whether on a cross-country road trip or a quick jaunt across town, there’s no end to what a child can see from the backseat of a car. Using familiar road signs, this striking book introduces little ones not just to the alphabet but also to the world around them. Equally perfect for transportation-obsessed children and those just learning to read, this fresh and dynamic picture book will entertain and educate at home, in the classroom, and on the go.

Maria van Lieshout is the author-illustrator of several picture books whose “loosely drawn pen and ink illustrations…wring Oscar-winning expressions from the slenderest curves and squiggles” (Publishers Weekly). She was born and raised in Holland and now lives in San Francisco

©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

Aw yeah.  I’m breaking out the big guns today.  Cute kids trying to raise library funds.  The catchy song and good cause don’t hurt much either.  Seems a little town called Shutesbury has been having a difficult time raising funds for a new library.  Their old one is, as you can see “wicked small”.  So they’ve set up a lovely fundraising site but they still need help.  It’s a good cause.  If you’re feeling generous you might try to get a headstart on your yearly “giving”.  Thanks to Rich Michelson for the link!

If you feel you haven’t gotten your quota on cute kids, this lot have accents.  British accents.  Can’t get much cuter than that.  It’s a promo for the app for the Barefoot World Atlas.  A rather lovely idea and a nice way to incorporate nonfiction into an app’s layout, don’t you think?

You know, I think we’re finally getting to the point where book trailers have distinctive flavors.  For example, if you had not told me that this next trailer was produced by Chronicle, I think I would have guessed anyway.  Something about their trailers just stand out.  They are, simply put, better than the rest.  See for yourself:

By the way, I’m particularly thrilled to see this book since we haven’t had a really good sign-related picture book since the days of Tana Hoban.

As you may know, Mr. Sharp and Mr. Schu along with their #nerdbery corps are dedicated to systematically reading through all the Newbery winners from the 1920s to today.  Mr. Sharp offers his thoughts on the best and the worst.  Of the 20s I confess to only having read The Trumpeter of Krakow (the actual Newbery Medal for this resides in my library, FYI) and The Dark Frigate.  See how Mr. Sharp ranked them:

This next one’s fun.  Years ago I was enamored of a picture book called The Terrible Plop by Ursula Dubosarsky, illustrated by Andrew Joyner.  That title’s a bit of a misnomer, by the way.  No potty humor here.  In any case, I was pleased to learn that the book had been adapted into a play for the preschool set.  Now it’s coming to the New Victory Theater (just down the street from my library, as it happens) to play from April 26th to May 13th.  Andrew Joyner told me that, “Then it does a week in Pittsburgh and a week in New Jersey.  It’s a fun and energetic show – quite different from the book, almost like a clowning performance (although I think they give a straight reading of The Terrible Plop before the performance starts).  I saw it a couple of years ago with the family and we all had a great time.  It was put together by a local theatre company in Adelaide, South Australia, called Windmill Theatre.”  Interested at all?  After all, it does involve bunny puppets. Here’s the info and here’s the trailer:

Finally, f

Hopper and Wilson
By Maria van Lieshout
Philomel Books (a division of Penguin)
$16.99
ISBN: 978-0-399-25184-9
Ages 4-8
On shelves now.

Inspiration comes in a variety of different forms though family is probably best source. One author might write a picture book and make all the monsters in it the relatives they knew growing up. Another might write a tale based on an amusing catchphrase picked up by her husband. In the case of Hopper and Wilson, author Maria van Lieshout found inspiration when her father and brother found home. Apparently the two went on a sea voyage once and proceeded to get lost. The story has a happy ending since the two came back, wiser and more appreciative of the place they left behind, and so Hopper and Wilson finds its footing. A quiet tale of safe journeys, returns, and friendship, this is the bedtime book you’re looking for when bathtime has come and gone.

Hopper the elephant and Wilson the mouse wonder one day what exactly they might find at the end of the world. Determining that there’s a good chance of finding lemonade there, the two set out in a little boat with only a red balloon for company. Along the way they are caught up in a sudden squall and the two friends are separated. Wilson searches high and low for Hopper, until at last a friendly bird leads the two to one another. Continuing their journey (minus one red balloon) they find themselves back at their old dock. The end of the world is also the beginning. And for that the two of them could not be happier.

Until now the books both written and illustrated by van Lieshout have consisted of small, specialized little stories. Bloom is a tale of two little pigs searching for love while Peep is of the first flight/graduation gift variety and Splash about having a down day. Compared to these Hopper and Wilson plays out like a veritable epic tale. As epic a tale as toys ever have, of course. There is, you see, a stitched quality to Hopper and Wilson. You can make out the long stitched lines on both of their bodies. There’s a comfy, cuddly quality to them. Hopper in particular seems to have rather relaxed stuffing, probably from a lot of hugging over the years. Theirs is a world right out of Winnie-the-Pooh. Of small tragedies, lemon trees, the occasional pet cactus, and the discovery that the end of the world is also the beginning.

The watercolors in the book definitely drill home that dreamlike quality. Van Lieshout has a great deal of fun conjuring up the colors of stormy seas and yellow early morning skies. There’s one moment at night when Hopper and Wilson stare up at the stars and the red of their balloon is reflected oh-so-faintly in the deep dark blue waters below. And I, for one, would lo

Why is a raven like a writing desk?*   More on topic, how is a bad query sent to an editor like a personal ad?  Last April The Rejectionist sought to answer this very question in Love is Like a Bottle of Query and I couldn’t help but figure that it would make a superb Valentine’s Day link for you all.

That seems insufficient fodder for today’s post, though.  So just for the heckuvit, here is a list of my favorite romantic picture books.  Howsoever you wish to interpret them.

The Duchess of Whimsy by Randall de Seve, illustrated by Peter de Seve – Not only was it written by a husband and wife team (an inherently romantic proposition) but it also features one of my favorite love stories.  You have a Duchess who is only interested in whimsical things and the practical fellow who loves her.  I’m a fan.  Plus it’s a real treat to the old eyeballs.

The Marzipan Pig by Russell Hoban – The saddest Valentine’s Day book on this list and long out of print.  Nevertheless I love that book, and I love the little film that was made of it long long ago.  You can catch a section of it here if you like:

The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear, illustrated by Stephane Jorisch – I understand that there are as many different picture book versions of this book as there are drops of water in the sea.  Everyone from Hilary Knight to James Marshall has adapted this poem at some point (probably because it’s the rare standalone poem that converts to the picture book format so easily).  My personal favorite amongst these versions, however, is Jorisch’s.  This isn’t just a story about two different species getting together.  No, in Jorisch’s world it’s two different lifestyles.  The owl is all buttoned up business suit and the cat this Greenwich Village, thick soled boot-wearing artist.  Yet impossibly they get together and wed.  How awesome is that?!

Henry in Love by Peter McCarty – A love story appropriate for the schoolyard set.  More of a crush really.  In this sweet tale a little cat has a crush on a rabbit in his class.  They reach a mutual understanding all thanks to a bright blue muffin.  Aside from making me hungry for muffins (particularly those of irregular colors) McCarty employs a really gorgeous pen to the illustrations in this book.  Little wonder it appeared on the 5 Comments on Happy Valentine’s Day!!, last added: 2/15/2011